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Thursday, April 20, 2017

Harriet Craig is a 1950 drama film noir
based on the 1925 play Craig’s Wife, by George Kelly. The sharp screenplay was written by Anne
Froelick and James Gunn, and the film was directed by Vincent Sherman, who is
also known for films such as Adventures of Don Juan, Mr. Skeffington, Old
Acquaintance, The Young Philadelphians, and more. Harriet Craig stars Joan Crawford, in her and
Vincent Sherman’s second of three collaborations. It also features Wendell Corey as a solid
leading man, and others.

Harriet Craig, played by Joan
Crawford, is the wife of Wendell Corey’s character, Walter Craig. She is a controlling, neurotic, manipulative wife
and person in general, herself having money to her name. Early on, she tells her psychiatrist that she
hasn’t had children because her husband doesn’t like them. But we soon find out that her husband
believes she is unable to have them and himself finds it one of the greatest
disappointments of his relationship with her.
Then there’s her cousin Clare, played by K.T. Stevens, who Harriet
treats at times more like a servant than a relative, and whom she lies to as
well. Then she has servants, who no
doubt get treated badly throughout the film as well.

For how truly devious of a woman
Harriet Craig continually proves herself to be, Joan Crawford surely had me
glued to the screen. At times, I sympathized
with her, at other times I found it difficult to. It delves into her childhood and the fact
that it wasn’t a very good one, perhaps responsible for her apparent
personality disorder. I’ve never seen a
Joan Crawford performance I didn’t like, but this one is perhaps one of the most
memorable I’ve yet seen. I’m surprised
this wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award, perhaps because it wasn’t very
commercially successful. Either way, you’ll
feel truly bad for Mr. Craig and everyone else in the Craig household throughout
the picture. And the tension between the
two of them, Mr. and Mrs. Craig, at times is palpable. If you were looking for a happy movie, this
isn’t it. This is full on film noir
drama at its finest. For Joan Crawford’s
performance alone I’d give a good review, but this film as a whole is
fantastic. I give it 3.5 out of 4 stars!

Anna Christie is a 1930 Pre-Code
drama film based on a 1922 play of the same name by Eugene O’Neill. It was released by MGM based on an adaptation
of the play by Frances Marion, a popular screenwriter at the time who wrote
such films as Camille, Dinner at Eight, the silent film The Wind, The Champ,
and many more. This film is directed by Clarence Brown, stars Greta
Garbo, and is remembered by classic film lovers for being her first talkie! MGM held off until 1930 (talkies began in
1928). It also features memorable
performances from Marie Dressler, George F. Marion, and Charles Bickford.

The
film starts off with George F. Marion’s character, Chris, sailor and father of
Greta Garbo’s character, Anna. He is
there with Marie Dressler’s character, Marthy, before finding out Anna was on
her way to meet him at age 20 for the first time since age 5. Marthy meets Anna when she arrives, but
leaves Chris’ barge in order to keep away from Anna so as not to badly
influence her, as Marthy is a self-described “tramp” and alcoholic. Anyway, when Garbo/Anna first steps into the
room, in a bar, and asks for a drink, you know you’re in for a treat. Garbo pulls the film together at all stops
along the way, as a memorable Swedish-American girl with a rough upbringing
spent on a farm and, later, as a prostitute.

Anna’s
father, Chris, takes her out on his barge to recover from her long trip, and we
watch as she uses the opportunity to cleanse herself of her past as best as she
can. Her father, of course, does not
know that she worked as a prostitute, at least not yet. At one point, Charles Bickford’s character,
Matt, is rescued out at sea by Chris and Anna, along with others. It is not long before Matt and Anna fall in
love, but can Anna live with herself not telling the man she loves about her
past? And if she tells him, what will
happen? And what’s to say for Anna’s
father, who doesn’t want Anna to end up with another sailor? These are the big questions, and the answers
I’m not going to spoil. This film was
nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Actress for Greta Garbo, and
I can see why! I give it 3.5 out of 4
stars! If you’re a fan of Greta Garbo
and haven’t seen this yet, add it to your list today!

They Made Me a Criminal is a 1939
crime drama film noir, released by Warner Bros and directed by Busby
Berkeley. Busby Berkeley is more
famously known for his work on musicals, having directed musicals like
Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, and more. They Made Me a Criminal stars John Garfield,
and also includes Claude Rains as well as Gloria Dickson, Ann Sheridan, a group
of boys named “The Dead End Kids”, and others.
It’s a remake of an earlier film titled The Life of Jimmy Dolan, but it’s
a worthy remake which some consider to be the greater of the two.

This
film was certainly one to remember, in my opinion. John Garfield really carries this
picture. You may be a fan of his from
other films like “The Postman Always Rings Twice” and “Humoresque”, two other
pictures of which I’d recommend both, especially “Postman”. The film starts off with John Garfield’s
character, Johnnie, at the top of the boxing game. It’s not long before someone is unintentionally
killed, and Johnnie winds up to blame for it.
He wasn’t entirely unlucky though, as circumstances led him to knowledge
that the police would be after him, and he was able to make the escape from town.

Johnnie
winds up further out West, meeting a bunch of young working boys on a ranch as
well as a woman named Peggy, played by Gloria Dickson quite memorably. He quickly takes an interest in her, and
winds up working on the ranch under a different name. Claude Rains plays the detective who is after
Johnnie, and if you’re a fan of Claude Rains as I am (who isn’t?), you’ll
surely like him in this role. The
characters just mentioned all come to know each other in interesting ways,
making you root for Johnnie along the way.
I’m not going to spoil the ending, whether it goes with a happy or sad
ending I’d rather you find out by watching the film! I give it a solid three out of four stars!